Chapter 5 - The Surgeon Who Took the Money
Malcolm Voss arrived at the estate under guard at 8:40 that morning.
He looked nothing like a man who had been captured at a warehouse.
His suit remained expensive.
His hair remained combed.
Only his hands betrayed him.
They shook.
Gabriel sat upright in bed.
His fever had fallen enough that Reed reluctantly allowed the conversation.
Marcus stood beside him.
Sadie stayed near the doorway.
Voss looked at her.
“Who is she?”
Gabriel answered.
“The reason I'm alive.”
Voss's face drained slightly.
Gabriel noticed.
“You know her?”
“No.”
“Then why are you afraid of her?”
Voss said nothing.
Sadie stepped forward.
“You used industrial thread.”
Voss closed his eyes.
That was enough.
Marcus moved toward him.
Gabriel raised one hand.
Marcus stopped.
Gabriel asked, “How much?”
Voss swallowed.
“Gabriel—”
“How much did my life cost?”
“Two million.”
Marcus laughed without humor.
Gabriel nodded.
“Cheap.”
Voss stared at him.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
“Mercer threatened my family.”
Gabriel looked at Marcus.
Marcus shook his head slightly.
No evidence.
Gabriel looked back.
“And the two million?”
Voss hesitated.
“Insurance.”
Sadie spoke quietly.
“You were paid.”
Voss's shoulders dropped.
“Yes.”
Reed stood behind him with disgust on his face.
“You contaminated a surgical wound.”
“I wasn't supposed to—”
Reed stepped forward.
“You placed chemically treated foreign material inside a patient.”
Voss snapped, “I know what I did!”
Silence.
Gabriel stared at him.
“Good.”
Voss lowered his head.
Gabriel continued.
“Now tell me everything.”
The plan had begun five months earlier.
Victor Hale feared Gabriel's legitimate-business transition would expose decades of financial crimes.
Daniel Mercer wanted revenge and control of the ports.
Voss had debts.
Together, they created a death designed to look like medical tragedy.
The restaurant ambush would cause a survivable wound.
The emergency list would ensure Voss treated Gabriel.
The contaminated deep sutures would trigger progressive tissue destruction.
Repeated surgeries would hide the original sabotage.
Eventually Gabriel would die from overwhelming infection—or doctors would amputate his arm and leave him physically weakened.
Either outcome benefited Mercer.
Marcus stared at Voss.
“You knew twenty doctors would come after you.”
“That was the point.”
Voss looked toward Gabriel.
“Every new surgeon trusted the original operative report.”
Reed's face hardened.
“You falsified it.”
“Yes.”
Sadie looked at Gabriel.
“That's why nobody questioned the stitches.”
Gabriel nodded.
“They trusted the paperwork.”
Sadie replied, “My mother didn't trust labels.”
Everyone looked at her.
She shrugged.
“She used to say people can print anything on a box.”
Gabriel's faint smile returned.
Marcus's phone rang.
“Mercer's at the old Port Alder restaurant.”
Gabriel frowned.
“The closed one?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Marcus listened.
Then his face changed.
“He has something.”
“What?”
“Records. Victor's records.”
Gabriel understood.
Mercer was destroying evidence.
Gabriel pushed the blanket away.
Reed immediately objected.
“No.”
Gabriel stood.
“No what?”
“You are not going anywhere.”
“Marcus.”
Marcus looked between them.
Reed pointed at Gabriel.
“He nearly died five hours ago.”
Gabriel reached for a black shirt.
Marcus shook his head.
“The doctor wins.”
Gabriel stared.
“You're choosing him?”
“I enjoy being alive, boss.”
Gabriel looked at Sadie.
“You?”
She folded her arms.
“Doctor.”
“Traitors.”
Sadie smiled faintly.
Marcus picked up his jacket.
“I'll handle Mercer.”
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“Bring me the records.”
“And Mercer?”
Gabriel paused.
“Bring him too.”
Marcus left with Knox and six men.
Sadie turned toward the kitchen.
Gabriel called after her.
“Where are you going?”
“To make coffee.”
“For me?”
“No.”
He stared.
“For Dr. Reed. He looks exhausted.”
Reed laughed.
Gabriel looked genuinely insulted.
Sadie disappeared through the door.
An hour later, Marcus returned.
Without Mercer.
Gabriel immediately knew.
“He escaped.”
“For now.”
“The records?”
Marcus placed a scorched metal document box on the table.
“Most survived.”
Gabriel opened it.
Inside were ledgers, contracts, banking documents and photographs.
One photograph stopped him.
Sadie had returned with coffee.
She saw Gabriel's expression.
“What?”
He held up the photograph.
It showed Daniel Mercer standing outside Harbor Nine.
Beside him was Victor.
And behind them...
A woman.
Sadie dropped the cup.
It shattered.
Gabriel looked at her.
“You know her.”
Sadie could barely speak.
“Yes.”
Marcus picked up the photograph.
“Who?”
Sadie's face had turned white.
“My mother.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“Ruth Brooks?”
Sadie nodded.
“But that's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because this photograph was taken eight months ago.”
Marcus looked at the date.
Sadie whispered, “My mother was already sick.”
Gabriel's voice softened.
“What did she do for Harbor Nine?”
Sadie shook her head.
“Nothing.”
Then she stopped.
Her mother's final months.
The unexplained cash.
The frightened calls.
The industrial contracts she refused to discuss.
Sadie's eyes widened.
“No.”
Gabriel watched her.
“What?”
“My mother didn't work for Harbor Nine.”
She picked up the photograph.
May you like
“She worked against them.”
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